Editing Interstate 690 (section)

==History==
The portion of the modern I-690 corridor west of [[Downtown Syracuse]] was originally served by [[New York State Route 48|NY&nbsp;48]], a route assigned as part of the [[1930 state highway renumbering (New York)|1930 renumbering of state highways in New York]].<ref>''Automobile Legal Association (ALA) Automobile Green Book'', 1930–31 and 1931–32 editions, (Scarborough Motor Guide Co., Boston, 1930 and 1931). The 1930–31 edition shows New York state routes prior to the [[1930 renumbering (New York)|1930 renumbering]]</ref> NY&nbsp;48 followed the length of State Fair Boulevard from [[Van Buren, New York|Van Buren]] to Downtown Syracuse, where it followed several local streets to reach [[New York State Route 5|NY&nbsp;5]].<ref>{{cite map |title=Texaco Road Map – New York |publisher=[[Texas Oil Company]] |year=1932 |cartography=[[Rand McNally and Company]]}}</ref> In the early 1960s, work began on a new freeway extending from the [[New York State Thruway]] to Syracuse by way of the western shoreline of [[Onondaga Lake]]. The new road, designated as I-690, was completed from the thruway to [[New York State Route 298|NY&nbsp;298]] by 1962. I-690 supplanted State Fair Boulevard as the primary highway through the area, and, from [[New York State Route 297|NY&nbsp;297]] southeast, State Fair Boulevard was upgraded on the spot. As a result, NY&nbsp;48 was truncated to its current southern terminus in Van Buren.<ref name="1961map">{{cite map |title=New York and Metropolitan New York |publisher=[[Sunoco]] |cartography=[[H.M. Gousha Company]] |year=1961 |edition=1961–62}}</ref><ref name="1962map">{{cite map |title=New York with Sight-Seeing Guide |publisher=[[Esso]] |cartography=[[General Drafting]] |year=1962 |edition=1962}}</ref>

The section of I-690 near the [[New York State Fair]]grounds was originally a surface highway. When I-690 was extended eastward through downtown to Midler Avenue (now [[New York State Route 598|NY&nbsp;598]]) in the mid-1960s,<ref>{{cite map |title=New York |publisher=[[Mobil]] |cartography=Rand McNally and Company |year=1965}}</ref><ref>{{cite map |title=New York |publisher=Esso |year=1968 |edition=1969–70 |cartography=General Drafting}}</ref> I-690 was moved onto its current, limited-access routing. State Fair Boulevard runs on the former I-690 eastbound [[Right-of-way (transportation)|right-of-way]], while a service road occupies the westbound right of way. State Fair Boulevard continues east along this right-of-way onto a ramp to I-690. The section of I-690 between Midler Avenue and [[Interstate 481|I-481]] was completed in the early 1970s.<ref>{{cite map |title=New York State Highways |publisher=[[State of New York Department of Commerce]] |year=1969 |cartography=Rand McNally and Company}}</ref><ref>{{cite map |title=New York |publisher=[[Shell Oil Company]] |cartography=H.M. Gousha Company |year=1973 |edition=1973}}</ref> I-690 gained {{One2a|{{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in}}}} when its western terminus was relocated in 1987. The interchange with the thruway was relocated and completely rebuilt, forcing a complete renumbering of all the exits on the highway.

I-690 follows the former [[New York Central Railroad]] (NYC) roadbed through a portion of Downtown Syracuse and actually cuts through the site of the former [[Syracuse station (New York Central Railroad)|Syracuse station]]. A remnant of the former railroad station platforms is visible to the north of the freeway, with plaster statues of people waiting for trains, who are occasionally dressed up for winter by area residents with scarves and other winter apparel. [[Time Warner Cable]], which restored the building as the base of its [[Central New York]] operations and [[Spectrum News 1 Central New York]], also has a rail-focussed mural along the back of that building fronting I-690.<ref>{{cite web|last=Case|first=Dick|title=Mystery Santa's helper each year puts the red scarves on statues along I-690|url=http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/mystery_santas_helper_each_yea.html|work=The Post Standard|date=20 December 2009 |access-date=2 May 2014}}</ref>

In mid-2009, the [[New York State Department of Transportation]] posted new milemarkers on both [[New York State Route 690|NY&nbsp;690]] and I-690. The mileposts treat the entire length of both routes as a single entity, with mile&nbsp;0 being at the northern terminus of NY&nbsp;690 at NY&nbsp;48 and mile&nbsp;20 being near the eastern terminus of I-690 at I-481.

There have been plans for decades to extend I-690 eastward from [[Interstate 481|I-481]] to [[Manlius, New York|Manlius]] or to the far east suburb of [[Chittenango, New York|Chittenango]]; however, these plans have yet to become a reality. <ref name="syr_hist">{{cite web|url=http://www.gribblenation.net/nypics/planned/syracuse/syrhist.html|title=Syracuse Highways: A Brief Historical Overview|access-date=March 28, 2007}}</ref> Several [[unused highway|unused ramps]] exist at the interchange between I-481 and I-690, intended to connect to an extended I-690.<ref name="google">{{google maps |url=https://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=&daddr=&geocode=&hl=en&mra=mr&sll=43.06083,-76.074142&sspn=0.011507,0.027831&ie=UTF8&ll=43.056707,-76.05144&spn=0.011508,0.027831&t=h&z=16 |title=aerial view of I-481/I-690 interchange |access-date=July 14, 2010}}</ref>